Just a few weeks ago I spent the days bundled in several layers of clothes trying to keep warm in the winter cold. I slept with blanket upon blanket upon blanket. I held Beautiful Gate children close to me during play time just to share some of their warmth. Now, seemingly without warning, the cold season is waning. Back home in Michigan I get a visual clue that winter is leading into spring while the snow slowly melts. Here in Lesotho, though, it just kind of happens. I'm putting fewer layers on in the morning and at night. By midday the sun is high and it might as well be summer. Though I know the seasons inevitably change, it never ceases to remind me of God's faithfulness. When the heat of summer starts to feel like it's becoming unbearable the Lord, in His providence, gives us a reprieve in autumn and winter. And then, after the break, once we begin wishing for that warmth to return, He allows it to. How good He is to us, especially in the little things that we take for granted so often.
But it's not just seasons of weather that God keeps in His perfect control. He is faithful and active and present in the changing seasons of our lives. This is a blessing I've been experiencing very clearly over the past few months. As I'm only about a month away from completing my one year commitment at Beautiful Gate (yeah, I don't believe it either) a lot of people have been asking me what is next. When I was planning to come to Beautiful Gate people told me to be careful because Africa gets in your blood; it becomes part of who you are. They were right. For many months now I've felt quite certain that my time at BG wasn't going to be limited to this one year stint. Why? In short, Africa has become part of me. More specifically Beautiful Gate has become my family. The children here have crawled into spaces of my heart I didn't even know were vacant. I think David Platt says it best in his book Radical: "[O]rphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." A year ago I didn't know I had a heart for Africa or Lesotho or orphans because I didn't know Amohelong, Potlako, Thato, Karabelo, Relebohile, or the 68 other kids I get to love and do life with every day. Now that I do, everything is different. I can't un-know what I know now. I can't un-see what I've seen. I can't un-feel what I've felt and what I feel. Before it was easy to ignore because I didn't know. But now I know. So what's next?
Well, as I said, for a while now I've felt in my heart that my journey with Beautiful Gate won't be finished come September. The problem was I didn't know what the next season was going to look like. That makes it difficult to answer the "what's next?" question. A few months ago, however, I was approached with an opportunity both excited me and reassured me just how intimately God is involved in the seasons of our lives. Now, after a few months of preparation, prayer, and making things official I'm able and eager to share what God has laid before me for the next season of life. Beginning next year I will begin a year-long transition into being the North American Ambassador for Beautiful Gate Lesotho. In short, this position requires that I spend six months of the year fundraising for BG in the U.S. and Canada and six months hosting teams and serving at BG in Lesotho. I will spend the next year training with the current Ambassador as she transitions into what God has planned for her next. After that I will spend the next few years serving the BG community and sharing my passion for BG with my own communities in North America. I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity! God knows the plans He has for me and I'm so grateful for the blessings He's placing in my life.
As I look forward to what God has planned I can't help but also reflect on what He's done in this past year. One of the greatest and most evident ways I say His hand at work has been through all the people He's placed in my life who have supported me on this journey. To all of you I want to say thank you with all my heart. Whether it be through prayer or finances or words of encouragement, God has used you in a big way to help make this possible for me. Thank you for helping change my life for the better. I have no doubt that God will continue to place incredible people in my life to help support me in the season to come.
As I look forward to that time I ask that you might join me in prayer now with these requests:
- Pray for Beautiful Gate. Pray for the children, the staff, and the volunteers. Pray that God will continue to support and sustain this place as long as it needs to be here.
- Pray for me in my last month or so of my commitment. Pray that I remain present in the work God has called me to this year. May I finish this chapter well even as I anticipate the excitement of the next.
-Pray for my transition into the North American Ambassador position. Pray that God may equip me even in my weakness for the work He is calling me to. Pray that I will receive the support I need to be able to do that work. Pray for me as I begin fundraising again when I return home in September. Boldly I ask that you might prayerfully consider financially supporting me if you are able.
-Pray that as I seek God's face and aim to do His will that I will be protected from the attacks of the evil one. Pray that I will be able to resist his tricks and temptations. Pray that I will remain on the path of righteousness, being salt and light in all that God calls me to do.
Thank you again for your support. Even reading this blog and informing yourself about the things God is doing in this place is a way of support. I appreciate it. I pray you will continue to walk this journey with me. I look forward to continue sharing with you the ways in which God is working in my life and the lives of all of us at Beautiful Gate.
